The old home city gets a nod from Lonely Planet

[Goshute]

Unexpected...

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-new ... 179mn.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HansV]

I'm sure Newcastle is a fine place, but among the top ten must-see cities...

[BobH]

Was watching an NGS program last night about earthquakes. Seems the coal mines under Newcastle were blamed for one there some time ago. I wasn't even aware that Newcastle in Australia was a coal mining center. Was it named such because of the coal and because of the coal mining at Newcastle upon Tyne? I learned many years ago that want is foolish to "take coals to Newcastle."

[Goshute]

Was watching an NGS program last night about earthquakes. Seems the coal mines under Newcastle were blamed for one there some time ago. I wasn't even aware that Newcastle in Australia was a coal mining center. Was it named such because of the coal and because of the coal mining at Newcastle upon Tyne?

It was indeed named after Newcastle in the UK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of ... outh_Wales" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; There's a lot of mining in that area, several of my high school mates work or worked in the coal mining industry.

I'm not so sure that coal mining was to blame; the depth of the epicenter is deeper than the mining activities, see "Cause" in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Newcastle_earthquake" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Boolaroo, pronounced "bull-a-roo", the town directly above the epicenter, is very close to where I grew up - I went to primary/grade school there for a while.)

[BobH]

Yes, I probably misspoke in my post. The NGS program was hypothesizing about the effects of human actions on earthquakes. One human cause was posited as mining and the Newcastle '89 quake was pointed to as a possible example, not only because of the solids removed but also because of the water removed.

Other causes posited were large impoundment dams, massive buildings, and changes in water tables. It is not correct to say that they showed or even claimed a cause and effect relationship. It was more a matter of enquiry and exposition.